When we heard that Taylor Swift had released a new song called Shake It Off, we were really excited. Not only for the return of everyone’s favourite peppy country-pop singer with a predilection for lyrically slating her exes, but because we were expecting some sort of throwback to Mariah Carey’s song of the same name.
But it's very far from the 2005 edition – Taylor’s new material is a giddy, upbeat clap-along accompanied by a video where she dorks her way through loads of iconic dances – B-boy, cheerleader, mime, ballet, twerking, cheerleading, finger-popping – always looking gawky and limby and out of place until she gets to be her normal – exquisite, might we add – self.
The video makes the point that she doesn’t fit anywhere until she’s being her flawed self. It totally feeds into that love-me-for-my-fuck-ups anti-diva thing that celebrities like her, Jennifer Lawrence and Cara Delevingne do so well. And it totally goes against Mariah Carey’s I’m-a-diva-and-don’t-you-and-all-my-minions-know-about-it? thing she’s had down pat since, well, since Taylor Swift couldn’t even speak, let alone write Grammy-award-winning songs.
Beyond the general theme of ditching the haters and moving on, there are some pretty interesting things to be learned from the broad similarities of the videos, and here they are:
Sex appeal
Unsurprisingly, the Mariah video teems with sexy moments, but the sexiest might be when she takes a bath of rose petals and champagne. We can’t definitely prove the tub contained champagne, but it’s Mariah Carey, and despite the low-production values of SIO 2005, that CGI was pricey and director Brett Ratner (who directed Wolf of Wall Street – who knew?) wouldn’t have scrimped on the booze budget. The sex appeal in Taylor’s video is basically borrowed from some faceless twerking dancers, unless you’re turned on by a gorgeous woman repeatedly stacking it.
Cute appeal
If released post-2008, when Napster-goaded music executives started to take music on the internet a bit seriously and actually put music videos on YouTube, the cat would have got way more time in Mariah's video, cats being the internet's favourite animal. In Taylor's SIO, however, the cutest bit is her trying to be a b-boy and just looking a bit like Avril Lavigne.
Old school glam
This might be the moment that totally separates generation Y and X pop stars – with the exception of Kanye West, and basically every DJ charging hundreds of thousands of proper currency per gig, musicians aren’t the sort of divas they used to be. That’s why Taylor’s throwback to Hollywood glam is to Barbra Streisand’s turn in Funny Girl, where the legend plays an atypical leading lady. Whereas Mariah? She’s basically Marie Antoinette right here.
Kid dancing
Literally today, David Cameron announced that music videos are to come with age restrictions and warnings, and it goes to show how much pop culture has changed that, in 2005’s * *, there are kids shimmying like they’re adults, but in 2014’s? Taylor Swift dancing like a big kid. Sexiness has been usurped by a commitment to shiny, happy people dancing - the same could be said for Pharrell - it's hard to remember him doing videos like the sleazy Lapdance when his biggest promo to date has been the cheery Happy.
Cheerleaders
Despite her love of divadom, Mariah isn’t afraid to take it down a few notches, by appearing on the bleachers of the sports stadium, watching the ballgame (the camera doesn’t actually look at the cheerleaders much, preferring Mariah’s glam khaki get-up). And despite her ‘I’m just like you’ shtick, things have progressed since her promo for You Belong With Me**, where she plays a downtrodden band geek on the bleachers, singing: ‘she's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers.’
**The little black outfit
**
The LBD in both of these instances is an opportunity for each singer to show themselves at their purest (white totally got ruined as a metaphor for purity after Michael Jackson and Madonna kept using it to show they were god or something. Plus, black is way slimming). In Mariah’s case, she takes/owns the stage her own headline concert, with not a crowd member in sight (who needs little people when you’ve got Mariah?) Whereas Taylor’s in there with the melee, clunking about with her pastel-clad mates who comprise just about every segment of society apart from ‘vehement Taylor Swift haters’ or ‘people with natural rhythm’.
A happy ending
Mariah's naked but for a sheer kaftan on a beach. Her back’s to us, as if to say we’re not really allowed to hang out with her any more; this is her r&r time. Let her be. Taylor ends up fully-clothed dancing with all her friends, like she’s the casting director for Glee or a ’90's Gap advert.
Which one wins? Well, we weren't having a competition. But the fact Mariah yells into a RAZR phone – remember those? – might narrowly edge it for us. You can watch the full videos here:
Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophwilkinson
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.